discretion, civil surgeons, to make periodical examinations of pensioners, and to examine applicants for pensions. Under the acts granting military bountyland warrants, he is empowered to make regulations to govern the admission of evidence to prove the service of the soldier or sailor where no record evidence exists of the service for which a warrant is claimed. The certificates of examining surgeons in all cases of pensions are subject to the approval of the Commissioner. It is his duty, upon the application by letter, or otherwise, by or on behalf of any pensioner entitled to arrears of pension, or if any pensioner has died, upon a similar application by or on behalf of any person entitled to receive the accrued pension due such pensioner at his death, to pay or cause to be paid such pensioner or other person all such arrears of pension as the pensioner may be entitled to, or, if dead, would have been entitled to had he survived; and no claim agent or other person shall be entitled to receive any compensation for services in making application for arrears of pension. He may designate, in localities more than twenty-five miles distant from any place where a court of record is holden, persons duly qualified to administer oaths relating to any pension or application therefor, before whom declarations may be made and testimony taken, and may accept declarations of claimants residing in foreign countries made before a United States Minister or Consul, or before an officer of the country duly authorized to administer oaths for general purposes, authenticated by the certificate of a United States Minister or Consul. It is his duty, when satisfied that fraud has been perpetrated in obtaining any special act of Congress granting a pension, to suspend payment thereupon until the propriety of repealing the act can be considered by Congress. He must forward the certificate granting a pension to the agent for paying pensions where such certificate is made payable. He is authorized to organize at his discretion boards of examining surgeons, not to exceed three members, and each member is entitled to a fee of $1 for each examination ordered. He may require examining surgeons to make special examinations of pensioners, or applicants for pension. FORCE IN THE PENSION OFFICE. Commissioner of Pensions........ Per Annum. $3600 Deputy Commissioner of Pensions......... 2400 There are seventeen pension agents for the payment of pensions, who receive a salary of $4000 per annum each, and are allowed fees in addition, as follows: $15 per hundred vouchers, or at that rate for a fractional part of a hundred, prepared and paid by them, in excess of 4000 vouchers per annum. Also actual necessary expenses for rent, fuel, lights, and for postage on official matter directed to the Executive Departments and Bureaus in Washington. They are located as follows: San Francisco, California. Washington, District of Columbia. They are required, without any fee therefor, to take and certify the affidavits of all pensioners, and their witnesses, who may personally appear before them for that purpose. INFORMATION RELATING TO PENSIONS. WAR OF THE REBELLION. WHO MAY HAVE PENSIONS.-Every person specified in the several classes enumerated below, who has been, since March 4, 1861, or who may be after March 3, 1873 (the date of the law), dis abled under the conditions stated below, is entitled to be placed on the list of invalid pensioners of the United States, upon making due proof of the fact according to the requirements of law, and those imposed by the Pension Office, and they will be entitled to receive, for a total disability, or a permanent specific disability, a certain rate of pension; and for an inferior disability, except in cases of permanent specific disability, for which the rate of pension is expressly provided, an amount proportionate to that provided for total disability, the pension to commence from date of discharge from the military service, and to continue during the existence of the disability. First class. Any officer of the army, including regulars, volunteers, and militia, or any officer in the navy or marine corps, or any enlisted man, however employed, in the military or naval service of the United States, or in its marine corps, whether regularly mustered or not, disabled by reason of any wound or injury received, or disease contracted, while in the service of the United States and in the line of duty. Second class.-Any master serving on a gunboat, or any pilot, engineer, sailor, or other person not regularly mustered, serving upon any gunboat or war-vessel of the United States, disabled by any wound or injury received, or otherwise incapacitated while in the line of duty, from procuring his subsistence by manual labor. Third class. Any person not an enlisted soldier in the army, or sailor in the navy, serving for the time being as a member of the militia of any State, under orders of an officer of the United States, or who volunteered for the time being to serve with any regularly-organized military or naval force of the United States, or who otherwise volunteered and rendered service in any engagement with rebels or Indians, disabled in consequence of wounds or injury received in the line of duty in such temporary service. But no claim of a State militiaman, or non-enlisted person, on account of disability from wounds or injury received in battle with rebels or Indians, while temporarily rendering service, shall be valid unless prosecuted to a successful issue prior to the first day of July, 1874. Fourth class. Any acting assistant or contract surgeon disabled by any wound or injury received or disease contracted in the line of duty, while actually per forming the duties of assistant surgeon or acting assistant surgeon, with any military force in the field, or in transitu, or in hospital. Fifth class. Any provost-marshal, deputy provost-marshal, or enrolling officer disabled, by reason of any wound or injury received in the discharge of his duty, from procuring a subsistence by manual labor. Rates of Pension for Total Disability. For lieutenant-colonel, and all officers of a higher rank in the military service, and in the marine corps; and for captain, and all officers of higher rank, commander, surgeon, paymaster, and chief engineer, ranking with commander by law, lieutenant commanding, lieutenantcommander, and master commanding, in the naval service, $30 per month. For major in the military service and marine corps, and lieutenant, surgeon, paymaster, and chief engineer, ranking with lieutenant by law, and passed assistant surgeon in the naval service, $25 per month. For captain in the military service and in the marine corps, chaplain in the army, and provost-marshal, professor of mathematics, master, assistant surgeon, assistant paymaster, and chaplain in the naval service, $20 per month. For first lieutenant in the military service, and in the marine corps, acting assistant or contract surgeon, and deputy provost-marshal, $17 per month. second lieutenant in the military service and the marine corps, first assistant engineer, ensign, and pilot in the naval service, and enrolling officer, $15 per month. For cadet-midshipman, passed midshipman, midshipmen, clerks of admirals, and paymasters, and of other officers commanding vessels, second and third assistant engineers, masters' mates, and all warrant officers in the naval service, $10 per month. And for all other persons whose rank or office is not mentioned above, $8 per month. And masters, pilots, engineers, sailors, and crews upon the gunboats and war-vessels are entitled to receive the pension allowed to those of like rank in the naval service. For Every commissioned officer of the army, navy, or marine corps is entitled to receive such and only such pension as is stated in the above paragraph for the rank he held at the time he received the injury or contracted the disease which resulted in the disability, on account of which he may be entitled to pension. Disability. Rates of Pension for Permanent Specific his widow, or if there be no widow, or in case of her death, without payment to her of any part of the pension hereafter mentioned, his child or children under sixteen years of age are entitled to receive the same pension as the husband or father would have been entitled to had he been totally disabled, to commence from the death of the husband or father, to continue to the widow during her widowhood, and to his child or children until they severally attain the age of sixteen years, and no longer; and if the widow remarry, the child or children are entitled from date of remarriage. From June 4, 1872. Loss of both hands, or both feet, or both eyes, or one eye, the other having previously been lost, and in the case of hands and feet the loss of one and total disability of the other, or otherwise so totally disabled as to be utterly helpless, or so nearly so as to require regular personal aid and attendance, $31.25 per month, which was increased to $50 per month by act of June 18, 1874. This provision was modified by the act of June 17, 1878, so as to allow $72 per month to all those persons who have lost either both their bands, or both their feet, or the sight of both their eyes, while in the service of the United In case of the soldier's or sailor's States. death, leaving no widow or child, but has Amputation of either leg at the hip-left relatives dependent upon him for joint, $37.50 per month. One hand and one foot, or totally and permanently disabled in the same, or otherwise so disabled as to be incapacitated for performing any manual labor, but not so much so as to require regular personal aid and attendance, $24 per month. One hand and one foot, or totally and permanently disabled in both, the pension allowed for each of the disabilities, at such rates as are provided by existing laws, which would be in amount, if the leg is lost above the knee and the arm above the elbow, $24 for each,-$48. If otherwise, $18 each,-$36 per month. One leg above the knee, or one arm above the elbow, $24 per month. The loss of one hand or one foot, or total disability in the same, or otherwise so disabled as to render their incapacity to perform manual labor equivalent to the loss of a hand or a foot, $18 per month. The loss of the hearing of both ears, $13 per month. For disability, not permanent, equivalent in degree to any of the above cases stated, the same rate of pension is allowed during the continuance of the disability in such degree. – Pensions to Widows or Children under If any person, who, under the conditions heretofore stated, would have been entitled to a pension had he survived, has died since March 4, 1861, or dies after the passage of the act (March 3, 1873), by reason of any wound, injury, or disease, From July 25, 1866, the pensions of widows are increased $2 per month for each child under sixteen years of age. support, such relative or relatives will be entitled to the pension in the following order: First, the mother; secondly, the father; thirdly, orphan brothers and sisters under sixteen years of age, who will be pensioned jointly. Biennial examinations of pensioners are no longer required. Artificial Limbs. All officers, non-commissioned officers, enlisted and hired men of the land and naval forces of the United States, who served during the War of the Rebellion of 1861, and who, in the line of their duty as such, shall have lost limbs or sustained bodily injuries depriving them of the use of any of their limbs, are entitled to receive every five years, commencing June 17, 1870, an artificial limb or apparatus for resection, or the money equivalent thereof, at the following rates: artificial legs, $75; arms, $50; apparatus for resection, $50. Exceptions:-those persons who have lost an arm at or above the elbow, or a leg at or above the knee, whose pensions have been raised to $24 per month. PENSIONS TO SOLDIERS AND SAILORS OF THE Any officer, non-commissioned officer, musician, or private, regulars and volunteers, disabled by reason of injury received or disease contracted while in the line of duty in actual service in the war with Mexico, or in going to or returning from the same, who received an honorable discharge, is entitled to a pension PENSIONS TO SOLDIERS AND SAILORS OF THE The surviving officers, and enlisted and drafted men, without regard to color, militia and volunteers, of the military and naval service of the United States, who served fourteen days in the war with Great Britain of 1812, or who were in any engagement, and were honorably discharged, are entitled to pensions, at the rate of $8 per month, during their lives, to begin February 14, 1871, except to those already receiving a pension of $8 per month; and those receiving a pension of less than $8 are entitled to the difference between what they are receiving and $8 per month. Surviving widows are allowed the same pension as the soldier or sailor would have been entitled to, if living, on the 14th of February, 1871, the pensions to cease when they marry again. Pensioners of the war of 1812, and those of any Indian wars, whose names were stricken from the rolls by reason of their taking up arms against the United States during the War of the Rebellion, are restored to the rolls, also widows of such, by the act of March 9, 1878. REVOLUTIONARY PENSIONS. The last act referred to directed that every widow of a Revolutionary soldier should be placed on the pension rolls at $8 per month. Number of Pensioners on the Roll at the 1861. For the Year ending 1870. For the Year ending Invalids. Widows, etc., Total. 75,957 93,686 169,643 82.859 105,104 187,963 87,521 111,165 198,686 93,394 114,101 207,495 1873. 1874. .113,954 118,275 232,229 .119,500 118,911 238,411 .121,628 114,613 236,241 1875. 1876. 1877. 1878. A declaration must generally be filed, blank forms of which will be furnished to claimants upon application therefor. The declaration should set forth the company and regiment in which the applicant served, the name of the commanding officer of the company or organization, and the dates of enlistment and discharge. In navy cases the vessel upon which the claimant served should be stated. If the claim is made on account of a wound or injury, the declaration should set forth the nature and locality of the wound or injury, the time when, the place where, and the circumstances under which it was received, and the duty upon which the applicant was engaged. If the wound or injury was accidental, the applicant should state whether it happened through his own agency or that of other persons, and he should minutely detail the circumstances under which it was received. If the claim is made on account of disability from disease, the applicant should state in his declaration when the disease first appeared, the place where he was when it appeared, and the duty upon which he was at the time engaged. He should also detail the circumstances of exposure to the causes which in his opinion produced the disease. Whether the application be made on account of disability from injury or disease, the claimant should state the names, numbers, and 1866..................... 55,652 71,070 126,722 localities of all hospitals in which he 1867..................... 69,565 83,618 153,184 received medical or surgical treatment, 1861. 1862. 1863... 1864 1865.. giving the dates of his admission thereto, as correctly as he may be able. The applicant should state whether he was in the military or naval service prior to or after the term of service in which his disability originated. The applicant should state his postoffice address. In cities, the street and number of his residence should be given. The identity of the applicant must be shown by the testimony of two credible witnesses, who must appear with him before the officer by whom the declaration may be taken. CLAIMS OF INVALIDS. Nature of the Evidence required to sustain a vessel on which he served, should, if possible, be furnished, showing the name or nature of the disease, the time when, the place where it was contracted, and the circumstances of exposure to the causes which in his opinion produced the same. The surgeon should state whether in his opinion the habits of the applicant had any agency in the production of the disease. In any claim, whether made on account of injury or disease, if it be shown that the testimony of a surgeon, assistant sur geon, or other commissioned officer cannot be produced as evidence of the origin of the disability alleged, the testimony of other persons having personal knowledge of the facts will be considered. When a claim is made on account of disability from disease or rupture, the applicant should furnish the affidavit of his family physician to prove his condition at the time of enlistment. Upon the receipt of a claim for pension, application is made by the Pension Office, in army cases, to the Adjutant-General and the Surgeon-General of the army, for a report of the applicant's service and In a claim on account of disability evidence in regard to the disability al- from disease, he must furnish the testileged which may appear upon the rolls mony of the physicians who have attended and other records in the possession of him since the date of discharge, explicitly those officers. In navy cases, applica-setting forth the history of the disease and tion for such evidence is made to the proper Bureaus of the Navy Department. When the records of the War or Navy Department do not furnish satisfactory evidence that the disability on account of which the claim is made originated in the service of the United States and in the line of duty, the claimant will be required to furnish such evidence, in accordance with the instructions hereinafter given, compliance with which must be full and definite. If the disability results from a wound or other injury, the nature and location of the wound or injury, the time when, the place where, and the manner in which it was received, whether in battle or otherwise, should be shown by the affidavit of some one who was a commissioned officer and had personal knowledge of the facts. If the person called upon to give evidence is still in the service as a commissioned officer, his certificate will be accepted in lieu.of his affidavit. The applicant should furnish the testimony of the surgeon by whom he was treated, showing the location and nature of the wound or injury and the circumstances under which it was received. If the disability arises from disease, the testimony of the person who was surgeon or assistant surgeon of the regiment to which the applicant belonged, or the disability since its first appearance. It is especially important that the physician who first attended the applicant after his discharge should state the date at which his attendance commenced and his condition at that time. If it should not be possible for the applicant to show the condition of his health during the whole period since the date of his discharge by the testimony of physicians, the cause of his inability to do so should be stated by him under oath. The testimony of other persons on this point may then be presented. The statement of the witnesses in regard to the manner in which the applicant was affected should be full and definite, and they should state how they obtained a knowledge of the facts stated by them. Claims for Increase of Pension. A pensioner who may deem himself entitled to an increase of pension should file a declaration setting forth the ground upon which he claims such increase. A declaration for increase of pension may be taken before any officer duly authorized to administer oaths for general purposes, if it should not be convenient for the pensioner to appear before an officer of a court of record. The official character and signature of the person before whom the declaration may be |